“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NKJV) When I moved into a new (to me) home several years ago, I invested in changing all the lightbulbs in the house over to LED lights. Although they cost more than other types of bulbs, I thought it was worth the investment. Good lighting is important—something that we quickly appreciate when a power outage leaves us sitting in the dark. I once lived in an area that seemed to have an unusual number of outages. I quickly learned to keep flashlights, candles, and even an…
“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. (Mark 5:19-20, ESV). These are the words Jesus spoke to the man we recognize by the name Legion. The Lord had delivered him from demons, setting him free from a life of bondage and torment. Later, the man followed Jesus back to the ship and asked if he could stay with Him. Instead of granting the man’s request, the Lord instructed him to go back home. Was the Lord unfair in refusing the man’s request? After all, he only wanted to be with the One who had done so much for him. But no. Jesus knew that the man’s greatest power was in his testimony. Only the man himself could effectively tell others about what God had done in his life. They could see the transformation with their own eyes. John 4 tells of a time when Jesus chose to travel through Samaria, a route most Jews avoided. As He sat resting by the well…
“Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush” Life has a funny way of catching us off guard, usually at the most inconvenient times. Have you ever noticed that God can work that way as well? Moses probably thought that chapter of his life was over, after all, forty years had passed. But that is usually when God is up to something.. in the silent, quiet, “everything is going well” seasons of life. When I read this portion of scripture this thought instantly came to my mind, God can call you at any time in your life. You may believe that the time for ministry or something new is long gone, but that may not be true. If you have breath in your lungs today, God has a purpose for you. Open yourself up to something new and exciting. Instead of just dipping your toes in the water, dive in. His will is perfect and His plan for your life is beyond what you could ever dream. It’s never too late to advance the kingdom of God!
“One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh-baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard. Elisha said, “Pass it around to the people to eat.” His servant said, “For a hundred men? There’s not nearly enough!” Elisha said, “Just go ahead and do it. God says there’s plenty.” And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had—they not only ate, but had leftovers.” 2 Kings 4:42-44 MSG One prevailing theme in Elisha’s life is abundance. As I read through the story of his ministry,…
Daniel 9:17 KJV “Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.” Daniel 9:17 MSG “So listen, God, to this determined prayer of your servant. Have mercy on your ruined Sanctuary. Act out of who you are, not out of what we are.” Humanity can be quite a mess at times. We struggle to learn from history and our mistakes. We interject ourselves into situations thinking that we have all the answers. Selfishness and ego fuel many of our decisions. We stumble often, dust ourselves off, and try again. It seems to be a constant war between what we know we should do, and what we ultimately decide to do. In spite of the shortcomings and failures of humanity, we know a God who still moving and working. I am grateful to know that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and our ways are not His ways (Isaiah 55:9) I am also glad that when we need God to step into a situation to do supernatural work, He acts out of who He is and not out of what…
“But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8 CEV Is there anyone else who senses that darkness is running rampant through our world right now? In the face of great adversity and godlessness, I need to often remind myself that I belong to the light and that I do not need to fear what is happening around me. We are instructed in the Word of God how to handle this season of chaos in many scriptures, one being 1 Thessalonians 5:8. We must be sober. To be sober means to be marked by seriousness in demeanor and speech. We must be alert and aware of what is happening in the spirit realm. We must also be wise with our words and cautious with how we speak to others. We must let our faith and love be a suit of armor. Armor protects important, life-sustaining organs. Your faith and love for God and others will stand guard at your heart and deflect lies from the enemy. Lastly, we must wear our hope…